Believe it or not, when I tell people that I’m from California I feel embarrassed. Especially when people know i focus on natural, and California wines are often far from that. And I have always found that odd, especially when I was wolfing down organic food way before the rest of the world. For as far back as i can remember we (I) have been eating organic food in California, and i do mean as far back as i can remember, and i am pretty damn mature.
So, why in my opinion has California dropped the ball when it comes to wine? I don’t think i want to answer that, but I hear the sounds of coins clattering in the background. But things are changing, no pun intended. How do i know this? Well for one, i have been found drinking a California wine or two lately , and i avoided them like the plague when i lived there. And of course we are known to write about this topic these days, and a great movie highlights the natural wine movement in California, Wine From Here.
Catching me drinking a wine from California is still a rare occurrence, but of course where I live doesn’t help the situation any. I posted pictures a few years ago of Donkey and Goat’s wines and now i will do the same for Hank Beckmeyer’s La Clarine Farm. I have been reading, as many of you have, about him and his wines more and more often. They are impossible for me to get a hold of in Poland or Norway, but thanks to Hank’s emails and a California shipping address, I have been fortunate enough to get 3 bottles each of his 2009 and 2010 Home Vineyard bottling’s.
Hank runs his farm in Somerset, in the Sierra-Nevada foothills in California, resting up at around 600-700 meters over sea level. I don’t at what elevation Hank’s vineyards grow, but i am sure he will chime in with a response. Somerset? Surely you mean Sonoma right? Nope . Hank and his goats make some damn good wine in Somerset. Rather, Hank works extremely hard to help nature make her wine. I am not going to go on and on about how Hank does this, if you want to read it from his own words, you can do so here
I have tasted his wines only 2 times. Yes, only twice. I bought six bottles and I have to admit I gave one (2010) away as a wedding gift to close friends of ours because they were worth it. I gave a second bottle (2009) away to Maxime at the Green Man and French Horn in London (one of the restaurants in the Brawn, Terroir, Soif group) cause I knew he would understand it. That left me with 4. I drank two, one of which was consumed two days ago and I can tell you that it was the fastest disappearing bottle of the evening and there was even a bottle of La Stoppa among the bunch.
The wine was everything that I really hoped for, and i mean really hoped for. After all, I had guests, they knew I was from California, and most of all, they knew that I really only drank natural wine. The wine stood up to test and was just as refreshing as I had hoped. Fresh fruit, ripe tannins and refreshing acidity. No silky, velvety mouth feel, no warm alcohol and thank god no vanilla! Glog glog wine from California, finally!
All I can say is “California, keep doing what you are doing. You’ve come a long way”
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“Why would you want to drink a wine that, if it were a person, you would be bored of talking to?”
-Sean Thackrey
Sean Thackrey’s property is in Bolinas, a one hour-drive north of San Francisco in western Marin County. After harvesting, Sean typically waits 24 hours before fermenting. Although his wine-peers think he’s crazy, he tells them that he’s merely being guided by his collection of old and ancient texts relating to wine. You can read more about this art-dealer-turned master vigneron here. I also recommend spending some time on Sean Thackrey’s website, which is very unique.
Tonight I had the opportunity to taste his 8th vintage of his “base” wine, the Pleiades VIII. Bottled in July of 1999, this Old Vine wine includes Syrah, Carignane, Zinfandel, Petite Syrah and Merlot (to name but a few). The grape mix varies from vintage (or edition) to vintage on this non-vintage wine. It’s very difficult to find technical details about Sean’s wine’s, but from my tasting I can confirm that he uses some oak and most likely spontaneously ferments his wines using indigenous yeasts.
Date tasted: Wednesday December 2nd, 2009 at 23:00
Appearance: Lightish brick-red with a slightly brown edge. Development showing. Dim lighting so I couldn’t note the intensity. Unfiltered with notable sediment.
Nose: A wine with high intensity and a smoky nose with slight balsamic-like hints. Animal and barnyard aromas with hints of wet tobacco. Aromatic herbs, tiger balm, cranberry, dried Asian plums (the kind you find convered in a redish-orange powder). Smells spontaneous (fermentation). Rose pedals. As the wine remained in the glass for 10 or 15 minutes, the nose tightened up and became a bit more focused. A very interesting, fresh bouquet.
Palate: Juicy with ripe, medium acidity. Extremely mild and well-integrated alcohol (13.2%). Still very fresh with a long, dry finish with mild, mature tannins. Cranberries and tobacco on the finish. Extremely delicious to drink!
-Sean Thackrey